The 2021 Academy Awards ceremony has been postponed by two months as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The annual film awards had been set to take place next year on February 28. This year’s ceremony, the 92nd edition of the Oscars, was held on February 9.

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After meeting yesterday (June 15) to determine whether to push back next year’s Oscars as a result of the continuing public health crisis, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have ruled that the 2021 Oscars will now take place on April 25, 2021.

“For over a century, movies have played an important role in comforting, inspiring, and entertaining us during the darkest of times. They certainly have this year,” Academy President David Rubin and Academy CEO Dawn Hudson said in a statement.

“Our hope, in extending the eligibility period and our Awards date, is to provide the flexibility filmmakers need to finish and release their films without being penalised for something beyond anyone’s control.

“This coming Oscars and the opening of our new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures [set for April 30, 2021] will mark an historic moment, gathering movie fans around the world to unite through cinema.”

The aforementioned eligibility period has now been extended, meaning that a feature film must have a qualifying release date between January 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021 in order to be considered. The nominations for the 2021 Oscars will be announced on March 15, 2021.

The Oscars has only been delayed three times previously. The first was due to flooding in LA in 1938, before the second postponement followed after the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr in 1968. The attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981 was the third occasion.

Last weekend, the Oscars pledged to incorporate greater inclusivity in its future award ceremonies.